If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

NBA ReDraft Playoffs 1st Round: 2) Hartford vs. 7) Flagstaff

Welcome to the 2012 NBA ReDraft voting process. The redraft is exactly how it sounds. The rosters of every NBA team are cleared and then drafted again from scratch. Posters from the site draft full rosters under a salary cap and then there is a voting process to make the playoffs. We are now in the playoffs and the head to head matchups have begun. Please remember to vote for the roster and write-up you believe would win a 7 game series. Also remember that every player is considered as healthy for these playoffs. Thank you and enjoy the playoffs!

First of all, I just want to let KJ and Lucky know that I thought their team was better than a 7-seed. They put together a solid team that could have been ranked higher. Good job, boys.

While I think they have a solid team, I see a few clear advantages that make my team superior, and I will start by looking at some individual matchups before touching on team philosophy.

Cliff notes for those who don’t want to read:
*We can do a fair job containing Parker with our excellent perimeter defense.
*They have no above average defenders to counter my team’s strengths.
*After Parker, their offensive threats are inconsistent
*I bring 5 starters off my bench as primary reserves
*If their bigs get in foul trouble, they’re bringing in Al Harrington and Marreese Speights to cover Boozer/Bynum. Ouch. (And they WILL get into foul trouble – Okafor jumps at all up-fakes, and Brand cant do it all by himself)

Tony Parker is Flagstaff’s best player – no doubt about it. I love Parker, and I think he’s a top-5 point guard, but our squad matches up really well with him. Our starting backcourt consists of Kyle Lowry and Iman Shumpert, two EXCELLENT perimeter defenders. Additionally, we have Shannon Brown and Brandon Knight to bring off the bench to throw a number of different defenders at Tony Parker to try to slow him down. As a team, we expect Tony Parker to perform well; he’s a great player…But Kyle Lowry is no slouch either.

While Parker has performed well against Lowry in the past, Lowry has played quite well also. Lowry played 4 games against Parker in 2011/12. In those games, he put up a line of 17 points, 5.5 rebounds, 7.5 assists. Additionally, Lowry was able to shoot 44%+ from the field and 38%+ from the 3pt line in those matchups. We aren’t denying that Parker is the better player, but we feel that Flagstaff’s biggest advantage in the series (point guard) isn’t actually too large of an advantage. We have the defenders to slow Parker down on offense, and we have a guard that can keep him more than busy on the other end of the floor.

Looking over the rest of Flagstaff’s roster, I see a bunch of #3/4 options and no real #2 option to Parker. OJ Mayo has shown some offensive potential, but he’s as streaky as they come. Can Flagstaff rely on him to convert with any consistency against guys like Iman Shumpert and Shannon Brown? I wouldn’t feel confident in that matchup. Shump has already put his name amongst the best perimeter defenders in the game, even getting a few votes for the all-defensive team. We know that Shump isn’t a giant threat offensively, but he’s our fifth option on that end, so we’re no concerned. He’s in the game to shut down opposing guards, and we feel that he could handle Mayo without much issue.

Is Paul George a big athletic player? Sure. Did he grow another two inches? Maybe. Is he a legitimate #2 option on a good team? Not yet. At the end of the day, George is a 12/5 small forward, and he’s performed terribly in the playoffs two years in a row. In 11 playoff games this year, George shot under 40% from the field, under 27% from 3, and has basically turned himself into a defensive specialist that cant convert on the offensive end. Jared Dudley is no offensive dynamo, but he’s a lights out shooter from deep, and he’s shot 56% from the field in two matchups against George. Everyone talks about George because of his height and athleticism, but guess what? Dudley matched his offensive numbers last year while shooting 49% from the field.

Here’s where the matchup is decided: The frount court pairings. I’m rolling out Boozer and Bynum to counter Brand and Okafor.

Boozer and matched up in the playoffs this year, and Boozer got the better of Brand in the series. Boozer held Brand to 8 points and 5.5 rebounds on 41.5 shooting in the series. Boozer was also the more productive player throughout the regular season. He was a 16/8 player while shooting 55% from the field and posting very good defensive metrics. Credit Thibs if you want to, but the players still have to make the plays. Boozer was very solid last year in all aspects.

Emeka Okafor is not a good defender anymore. Actually, he’s awful. Expecting him to guard Bynum for an entire series is laughable. Not only would Brand/Okafor get into foul trouble quickly, but they would have to bring Al Harrington and Marreese Speights as primary backups to their starting bigs. Ouch. Extended minutes for either of them at the 4/5 isn’t very attractive.

Last year, Bynum posted 19 points, 12 rebounds on 56% shooting. He is widely considered the second best center in the league, and some think he is more talented offensively than Dwight Howard. How will he be covered? Emeka Okafor only played in a handful of games this past season. He posted the lowest efficiency rating of his career, and had his shot block rate chopped in half. For a slightly undersized center that relies on his athleticism, he has no chance at containing Bynum. Okafor’s defense has gotten worse and worse since he entered the league, and he’s a constant injury concern. A player that just turned 30, with a bad back and degrading lateral quickness wont be able to contain the second best center in the NBA.

As for the benches, I see another distinct advantage in my favor. I’m bringing five NBA starters off the bench as my primary reserves, as well as a 6th reserve in Andre Drummond that will have an immediate impact defensively if my big men get into foul trouble. I feel that being able to bring Brandon Knight, Shannon Brown, Vince Carter, Drew Gooden, Shelden Williams and the God-like Brian Scalabrine off the bench will help me win this series quickly.

They are countering my stud-infested bench with some solid bench players of their own, but I feel that my bench is superior. They have Steve Blake (Terrible last year), Matt Barnes, Corey Maggette, Al Harrington and Marreese Speights. First of all, bringing Harrington and Speights off the bench to help cover Bynum and Boozer is going to be a struggle for this team. Harrington cant cover a stool, much less a starting caliber NBA player. He hasn’t been a power forward for half a decade. Steve Black was atrocious last year for the Lakers for a majority of the year. Barnes and Speights are solid bench players, and Maggette does more harm than good. I don’t see how they could feel confident putting in this bench for any extended period of time, especially if their bigs get into foul trouble.

Overall, I see a lot of advantages in my favor. My strengths play very well into their weaknesses defensively, and their strengths offensively should be bottled by my strong perimeter defense and legit center.

Thanks for reading.

Flagstaff Writeup

I would like to congradulate Corey and Superdude on for making it to the playoffs and forming a very good team. I would like to start off by saying that this Flagstaff team has great balance offensively and defensively. We have our #1 guy in Tony Parker handling the ball and he played at an MVP caliber level last year. While some people may knock us for not having a #2 option, all 4 starters other than Parker are capable of averaging double digits along with bringing Al Harrington and Corey Maggette off the bench who are also more than capable of scoring.

Couple Key Facts:

1. Brand will see significant minutes guarding Bynum
2. Harrington will see solid minutes off the bench in a 6th man type roll

PG Matchup: Tony Parker vs Kyle Lowry

This is a very interesting matchup as Lowry is a very solid defender at the PG position. Parker averaged 18.3 ppg on .540 TS% had his highest WS/48 since 2006 and had his second highest PER of 22.0 in his career. While I believe that Lowry could somewhat contain Parker he wouldn't completely stop him and Parker would certainly get his. We have surrounded Parker with wings who can hit the three ball which will benefit his game which includes a lot of driving to the rim. Defensively Parker isn't great, but is no slouch either. Lowry isn't the greatest shooter spotting a 41% from the field this year, much like Parker his ability to drive and distribute is his strength. Overall while Lowry is a good defensive PG, there is no completely stopping Tony Parker which is why we feel we have the edge here

Advantage: Flagstaff

SG: OJ Mayo vs Iman Shumpert

This is a battle of offense vs defense. While Mayo has been a 6th man most of his career he fits what we need in our offense and that is somebody who can catch the ball when Parker drives especially with a Bynum clogging the lane. Mayo shot 36.4% from beyond the arc last year which is average to above average. Mayo defensively however isn't a liability and his defense will basically be non existent in this series as Shumpert is a below average offensive player. There is no doubt that Shumpert is a very good defensive player. However I feel it is premature to call him an elite defender. His offense is pretty non existent as he sported a 48.4 TS% which is pretty bad. We feel that this is a pretty even matchup or we may even have a slight advantage as Mayo wouldn't be relied on heavily defensively and could still get double digit points especially getting starting minutes. Mayo averaged 12.6 in 26 minutes last year and could get around that given starter minutes against Shumpert

Advantage: Tie

SF: Paul George vs Jared Dudley

This is a matchup of well known vs less known. Paul George is an athletic 6' 10" who is able to play both the 2 and the 3. He is a very good wing defender who is fairly efficient on the offensive end. He spotted a 55.5% TS% and spotted a 38.4% from beyond the arc. Like Mayo, we expect him to do a lot of catching and shooting off of the Parker drives. With Shumpert's offensive game below average Hartford is going to rely on a lot of Perimeter shooting from Lowry and Dudley. Dudley is underated by many as he is a talented player as he spotted a 38.4% from beyond the arc as well. The difference being is that is he is an average defender. With George's height advantage he will be contesting many of Dudley's outside shots making him less efficient that he would normally be. While we don't expect George to go off in this series offensively, we don't really think that Dudley will slow him up or stop him from getting his 12-14 ppg.

Advantage: Flagstaff

PF: Elton Brand vs Carlos Boozer

Since I stated before that Brand will be seeing many minutes on Bynum I won't talk about Brand's defense on Boozer. I think Corey and I would agree that Boozer is no slouch and is hated upon almost too much. While Boozer isn't terrible defensively he isn''t good by any means. While he may have Bynum, in Chicago he plays on a team that is predicated on defense and has guys like Taj Gibson, Luol Deng, and Joakim Noah in the frontcourt that can often times overshadow his flaws. Brand while not great offensively was still able to get 11 ppg on a TS of 52.1%. This isn't eye popping by any means, but as a #3 or #4 option this is all we are going to require with him espiecally with scoring that we have on our bench. Brands defensive prowness was shown on a 76er's team where he was often required to guard the team's best post player with Spencer Hawes being the other option. Also Brand played a lot of time at C so putting him here isn't a risk or out of the question by any means. While they may not be guarding each other we feel that Brand is better defensively and Boozer offensively

Advantage Draw:

C: Emeka Okafor vs Andrew Bynum

There is no doubt that Hartford has a huge advantage here as Bynum is the #2 center in the league. He can do everything and is an elite big man and there is no arguing that. The question being though, can Bynum be a #1 option. We haven't seen him as the guy before so we don't know if he would succeed or not without the likes of Kobe and Pau as support. As previously stated we will be having Elton Brand guarding Bynum. While he won't completely stop him by any means, we feel he can slow him down enough to where the other members of the offense will be required to do more than normally required. Also with Emeka Okafor, he is not the primary part of our offense so we feel one of Bynum's biggest strengths is partially negated. He will be our #5 option on offense so not a ton will be required from him in that aspect. While he is not a great defender, we feel he would be able to a better job slowing down Boozer than Bynum.

Advantage: Hartford

Bench: This is one of the strength's of our team that we feel will help us win this series. Al Harrington is an ideal 6th man who averaged 15.2 ppg last season. If Boozer is guarding him we expect no problems, and if they but Bynum on him, this is an advantage as it brings him away from the hoop and will allow Parker to drive. We also have Corey Maggette who has a bad rep as he is usually on bad teams in bad situations. We feel behind George in times where we need offense, we can stick Maggette in the lineup. The bench for Hartford has some solid players in Gooden and Brown and Carter. Both benches have some scoring touch and could benefit and affect the outcome

Advantage: Draw

All in all we feel this will be a close fought series. We feel that we have the balance both offensively and defensively to stick with and beat Hartford. We have experience on our roster so that won't be an issue. We may lack a true #2 option but we feel we have more than enough guys that can average double digits to take care of that problem which is why I think we would be victorious

Russel Westbrook couldn't even slow TP in the playoffs this year but Lowry is going to contain him??

While Bynum as the Lakers supposed number 1 option couldn't take guys like Kendrick Perkins, Kenneth Faried/Javale McGee to town and he has a big bodied Brand being thrown on him this series who has the wingspan and abilities to keep up with him.

Flagstaff also has another perimeter player besides TP with the ability to create his own offense, which Shumpert or Dudley can't provide.

Westy gambles a ton on defense. I may get critized forsaying this but Ill take a healthy Lowry over Westy defensivley. I love Brand but he will have is hands full and will be in a lot of foul trouble. Dudley is alsovery underrated. Shump has shown offensive potential I really like the floor spacing and defense on Hartford.